On the edge of Dalton’s Haig Mill Lake, distinctive French Normandy architecture and a majestic circular drive immerse Dr. Azid and Mona Ahmads’ nine-yearold home in Old World elegance. Guillotine limestone and fieldstone blend for a precise yet aged façade that complements the style’s hallmark cylindrical tower with a conical roof and porte cochere of a bygone era.
“We enjoyed designing and building this house tremendously, always learning in the process.” -Mona AhmadGiven the lakeside location, the Ahmads shaped their home insightfully. “We wanted to make the most of the view, so we made the house narrow and long,” says Mona Ahmad. Two master suites and the family living spaces make up the main floor, which has a modern, open floor plan and luxury amenities, though nearly every room is rich with ancient influences.
For many years before the couple built their home, Mona and Azid collected antique furnishings with the vision of building a lake home that would incorporate them. Now, their French exterior conceals a surprise, an eclectic interior sculpted by traditional Pakistani architectural elements and embellished with other foreign antiques.
At the main entrance, double glass doors shelter a second pair of more elaborate doors and an outer foyer with framed antique Pakistani tiles, the guest’s first hints that something remarkable and unexpected awaits. Dated to 1752, the heavily carved, rosewood doors come from the exterior of a Hindu temple and depict ancient deities. Farther inside, three teak arches, also ornately carved, divide the grand foyer from the formal living room. Mona explains that these, and others in the home, are very traditional in Pakistan’s older houses. The living room’s limestone fireplace is flanked by two one-of-a-kind armoires created out of old Pakistani bedroom doors inlaid with poplar, rosewood and ivory.
While flooding the interior with opulent character, the home’s plentiful Pakistani elements also represent the family’s heritage. “We wanted to sort of blend the culture here with our culture and ethnicity,” says Mona. Nearly every piece of furniture or art is meaningful, but they are not all Middle Eastern.